The writers for the film magazine Empire listed Drive as their number one film of 2011. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, declaring that Drive was “a brilliant piece of nasty business,” and that “Refn is a virtuoso, blending tough and tender with such uncanny skill that he deservedly won the Best Director prize at Cannes." It was his top film of 2011. Richard Roeper said that "Drive is an adrenalin shot to the senses. I love this movie and as soon as it was over, I wanted to see it again.” James Rocchi, writing for The Playlist, gave the film an A letter grade and said, "Drive works as a great demonstration of how, when there’s true talent behind the camera, entertainment and art are not enemies but allies.” Both Roeper and Rocchi also placed Drive as their number one film of 2011.
Stephanie Zachereck of Movieline complimented the film's action and wrote that it “defies all the current trends in mainstream action filmmaking. The driving sequences are shot and edited with a surgeon’s clarity. and precision. Refn doesn’t chop up the action to fool us into thinking it’s more exciting than it is.” She also admired Refn’s skill in handling the film’s violence and the understated romance between Gosling and Mulligan. Her score for the film was 9.5/10 Drive was Roger Ebert's seventh best film of 2011. In praising the film, he wrote, “Here is a movie with respect for writing, acting, and craft. It has respect for knowledgeable moviegoers.” Like Zachereck, Ebert admired Drive's action sequences, which were practically made and didn’t rely on CGI.
The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern called Albert Brooks' villainous performance “sensational”. “Prepare to be blown away by Albert Brooks,” said Peter Travers, “Brooks' performance, veined with dark humor and chilling menace (watch him with a blade), deserves to have Oscar calling.” Albert Brooks won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe.
Joshua Rothkoff, writing for Time Out New York, stated that “Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson) has taken the opportunity to work in America and pushed it to delirious limits; his effort, a foreigner's impassioned take on '80s-synth-scored romance and highway mayhem, plays like the work of a student graduating with highest honors.” Drive was Rothkoff’s choice for film of the year. Salon’s Andrew O’ Hehir lauded Albert Brooks against-type performance as the film’s villain and called it “unforgettable.” On the elevator sequence in the film, which juxtaposes romance with violence, O’Herir commended it and proclaimed that it’s a sequence that “film students will be deconstructing, shot by shot, for years to come.”
The violence of the film was off-putting for some reviewers. In a negative review by Anthony Lane in The New Yorker, he complained that the Drive’s violence was far too graphic, and it ultimately was a detriment to the film. Referring to the graphic nature of the violence he said, “In grabbing our attention, he diverts it from what matters. The horror lingers and seeps; the feelings are sponged away.” The Chicago Tribune’s Michael Philips also felt similarly, and while he enjoyed the film early on, Drive became “one garishly sadistic set piece after another.” Additionally, Phillips thought the film relied too much on “stylistic preening” and didn’t have enough substance.
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Drive
